A New Love
by Lizzy127
Summary: I was half asleep when I wrote this, (at 2 am) so I don't really know what to think of it. Please help me decide if I should write more.


***Disclaimer: The characters and parts of the plot belong to The Sound of Music & 20th Century Fox the other, new plots are mine, as well as what the characters think, feel, etc : )

***please R/R

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Maria sat next to her window watching the sun slowly set over the treetops. She was reflecting on the day she had just lived through. It had been a strange day, filled with mixed emotions. It had started off just lovely. She and the children had awoken to a delicious breakfast. Once they had eaten, she told them to go get dressed in their play clothes, which she had created and presented to them a few days earlier. When they all met up in the entrance hall a few minutes later, all seven children had excited expressions written across their face.

"Where will you be taking us today, Fraulein Maria," Little Gretl had asked.

"You'll just have to wait and see, won't you," she had responded, smiling down upon the curious little girl.

They had spent the day doing things that most children love to do. She had taken them on a picnic in the woods that surrounded house, where they had learned new songs, and sung old ones. They had then spent some time playing hide and seek among the trees, which had then led to the children wanting to abandon the game to see who could climb the highest in a tree. Maria had decided to cut the climbing activity short, when poor little Marta had lost her grip and came tumbling down. They spent the rest of the afternoon boating, until the Captain arrived home from his trip to Vienna. The children, all bursting with joy to see him, had stood up in the boat causing everyone, including the boat, to flip over. They retreated from the water to find themselves facing a very angry Captain and a Baroness who seemed to be trying hard not to laugh. They were sent inside right away and told to change into dry clothes. Maria had been about to follow them when the Captain called to her.

"Fraulein, you will stay here please," he had said in a rough voice.

"I think I'll go see what Max is up to," The Baroness then said as she walked past Maria into the house... even she knew better then to be around the Captain in anger.

Maria and the Captain got into a heated argument about the children. When the Captain had had enough of the argument, he had preceded to fire Maria. As he was turning to go inside, he heard the faint sound of voices singing.

"What's that?" 

"It's singing," Maria had replied.

"Yes, I realize it's singing," the Captain had begun, sounding a bit annoyed, "but who?"

"The children." 

"The children..." the Captain had said quietly, then he had turned and walked into the house, leaving Maria standing alone.

Maria followed the Captain's footsteps a few moments later, and when she peered around the door to the room they were in, she was hit by many strong emotions all at once. She felt happy mostly, so happy she felt as if she would burst into tears. A beautiful scene was in front of her, the Captain, the Father hugging and kissing all of his beautiful children for the first time in years. Little Gretl looked up at Maria, and Maria motioned to her to bring the Baroness the little handful of Edelweiss they had picked for her. She had walked over and handed the Baroness the flowers then did a little curtsey.

"Edelweiss," the Baroness exclaimed, "you never told me how enchanting your children were," she finished, looking at the Captain. 

The Captain then, for some reason looked over at the door where Maria was standing. This was Maria's cue to leave, and follow the Captain's orders of packing up her bags. She had headed across the large entrance hall and was half way up the stair when she heard her self being called.

"Fraulein," the Captain said. He apologized, and explained how he had behaved badly. Maria had responded by telling him about one of her worst faults, being outspoken. The strangest thing had then happened, the Captain had admitted, not directly, that he had really not known his children since their mother's death. This caused Maria to have a strange feeling run through her body. This feeling made her a bit nervous, or was it the awkward silence that had taken place? She never knew, but whatever it was, it caused her to resume climbing the stairs. She was stopped almost immediately when the Captain said again, "Fraulein," there was a short pause, and then, "I want you to stay, I uh, ask you to stay."

"If I could be of any help." 

"You already have," he began, "More then you know."

Their eyes then locked onto one another, but only for a brief second. That second however, was enough time to send a strange chill down Maria's spine. Fortunately, that strange chill was quickly over come by large amounts of happiness, which then filled every corner of Maria's body. She was staying. She wasn't going back to the abbey, but staying with the children she loved so much.

And so, Maria sat next to her bedroom window, reflecting on the day's events and the strange feelings she had had. Suddenly she heard a knock on her door. The children had been put to bed an hour ago, and she supposed that little Gretl had awoken with a bad dream, as she frequently seemed to do.

"Come in," Maria said, craning her neck some to see the door better.

The person on the other side however was not Gretl, but the Captain.

"Hello," he said smiling, taking a slow step into the room, looking around.

"Is there, um, anything you need, Sir," Maria asked still a little shocked, and curious as to what the Captain was doing in her room.

"Oh no well, actually yes," he said walking over to her side, then looking out the window.

"What a beautiful sunset."

"Er... yes it is," said Maria, feeling a bit uncomfortable in the proximity of the Captain.

"Yes... well any ways," he began, "Uh, first off I wanted to apologize once more... I really did behave badly earlier."

"Well, like I said before, I really am far to outspoken."

Neither of them was facing each other, both staring at the sunset. They had a moment of silence between them and helped Maria to feel a bit calmer than she had at first.

"I also wanted to thank you," the Captain said softly turning to look at Maria. She could feel his gaze upon her cheek, and therefore kept staring at the sunset. "You helped the children," there was a pause as he turned to look back out the window, "You helped me to realize what I was missing."

"Oh Captain," it was Maria's turn to redirect her gaze, "You were never missing them, they were always there, you just needed to realize that..." 

Maria trailed off as the Captain turned to face her, their eyes locking again. Maria felt that cold shiver go down her spine once more, though this time it was accompanied by a strange feeling, a feeling like she was falling away from this earth, never to come back again. This intoxicating feeling went on for what seemed like years. Maria could feel the Captain's presence, she could feel him slowly getting closer, and closer, and closer until--

Maria quickly stared down at the floor. She could feel her cheeks turning red as she slowly came back down to earth. She didn't dare look up at the Captain's face, because she felt vulnerable. No one had ever been able to get inside her that way before. She felt as though the Captain had read every single thought in her head. As she continued to come back, she suddenly noticed how close the Captain had moved to her. When she had moved her head to face downwards, he had been so close that she had almost found herself resting on his chest. She closed her eyes, and a few seconds later felt him move away from her.

"I, um," the Captain began breaking the silence, using more of a gruff voice, "I also had a question about Liesl..."

Maria looked up at him, very grateful to see that he was again looking out the window, and not at her. She was sure she couldn't handle another eye connection again.

"Um, yes... Liesl," she found the words she was looking for and spat them out as best she could, "what about Liesl?"

The Captain continued staring out the window. The sun was now low in the deep red sky, and the moon was beginning to peek out.

"Well, you see when I got home, I found a young boy, who I had never seen before, throwing pebbles at her window... do you know anything about this, Fraulein?"

Maria felt a small smile coming to her face. She began to think about her first night in the von Trapp's home and how Liesl had crawled into her window. All she had been able to get out of her that night was that there had been someone else. It was not until a few nights later that Liesl had confessed all about that someone. His name was Rolfe. She had met him through school, and was, well, she pretty much loved everything about him.

"Fraulein," the Captain said once more, pulling Maria out of her thoughts, "tell me what you know about this boy."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Captain, but I'm afraid I know nothing of him," she doubted whether the Captain would eat this lie she fed him, but she was not about to break the bond that she held with Liesl.

"Fraulein, now do you really think I'm going to take that answer from you, " he asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Well, yes, Captain, I'm afraid you'll have to as that's all I have to say on this matter," Maria said in a matter-of-fact tone as she glanced over at the Captain.

"Now Fraulein, I really don't want to make a big deal of this so if you could just tell me--" 

"I honestly have nothing more to say on this topic, so I ask you to stop pursuing, as it will only be a waste of your and my own time," she finished.

Out of the corner of her eye, Maria noticed the corners of the Captain's lips move slightly up wards, as if trying not to laugh. 

"You're very good at this, you know," the Captain said turning to her and smiling, "My wife would have said the same thing if she were wanting to keep a secret from me."

"Well, I'm not sure where I could have acquired this talent, but thanks for the complement," Maria said with a little laugh in her voice.

"I think mothers pass it down to their daughters, I know my wife gave that gift to Liesl. You must have had a pretty good mother, Maria."

That note made Maria's heart drop. She had never really known her mother, as she had died when she was just two. She slowly lowered her head feeling a bit sad as her childhood was not a good one, and because of that it was a rather touchy topic for her. She also felt rather guilty, because the man standing next to her had also lost someone also, and it was perhaps even worse for him since he really knew and loved her.

"What's wrong," the Captain said, sounding worried as he turned to face Maria. He put his arm around her shoulder as she began to speak...

"I'm sorry... it's just that, well, I'm sorry," she broke off. She didn't want to trouble the Captain with her sadness, and worries. She also felt rather embarrassed for getting so emotional in front of him. She absolutely hated crying in front of people and was very happy she didn't just then, even if she did come very close.

"Maria..." he pleaded softly, "tell me what's wrong..."

Maria felt tears burning at the backs of her eyes, but she was not going to let them take over.

"Nothing," she said, inhaling a deep breath and straightening up to look out at the now dark outdoors, "everything is fine... I'm sorry, really."

"Maria, everything is not all right," the Captain began, the same softness still lingering in his voice, "please just tell me what's wrong."

The kindness in his words was just too much for Maria to handle. In one swift blow, everything just seemed to break down. She felt hot tears gliding gently down her face. She tried to hide them, to wipe them away, but it was no use. The Captain had seen and was now even more gentle and soft with her. Before she even knew what was happening, the Captain was taking her in his arms, drawing her to him. His chin came to rest on the top of her head, as he began to talk to her once more, though Maria wasn't listening. All she was aware of was how she didn't even resist the embrace, and how she was glad she didn't. It felt good standing there, anchored to comfort. They stood there for a while, not moving. Maria began to find herself to be getting rather sleepy, as she usually did on the rare occasion that she cried. Maria hadn't even begun to worry how to break off the embrace, when there was a sudden yell from the hall.

"Fraulein Maria!" 

It was little Gretl, whom Maria supposed had just suffered from a nightmare.

The Captain drew back; smiling down at Maria in a way that made her feel strange.

"I believe someone's had a nightmare..." she began.

"Let me take care of this one," the Captain said, still in his soft, loving voice.

"If you want... but really, it's no trouble," Maria said trying her best to avoid the Captain's eyes.

"No, I insist," the Captain began, "Besides, you need to get some sleep, and I need to get better aquatinted with my children." He finished in a brighter voice, as he walked Maria over to her bed.

Maria thought she saw a spark of excitement in the Captain's eyes at the thought of helping his little angel after a nightmare.

"All right, but you better hurry--" Maria began but was cut of in mid speech.

"Fraulein Maria," came Gretl's desperate voice again.

The Captain gave Maria one last smile, then turned and walked to the door.

"Thank you Captain," Maria wasn't quite sure what to say, but this best filled in all she wanted to say to him... at the moment.

The Captain stepped into the hall, turned and gave her another one of those smiles... that beautiful smile, then he closed the door behind him. 

Maria listened to his footsteps fade away before getting changed, and then getting into bed. As she lay there, trying to fall asleep she was reviewing over what had just happened. As she was thinking about it over again one thought made her freeze... it wasn't the fact that he had been so kind and it wasn't the fact that he had held her. Nor was it the fact that she had gotten lost in his eyes, though this was hard to understand too. No, it wasn't those things; it was the fact the he had called he Maria, without Fraulein placed at the beginning. He had called her just by her name alone, and that seemed to be the strangest thing to her... Maria didn't know how late she was awake pondering that thought, but one thing she did know was that she was very interested, if not nervous to see what tomorrow would be like.


End file.
